You almost died on my petunias
by I'mwastingmylifeinhere
Summary: Magnus, your local antisocial healer with friends in high places, never would have thought this is what would happen when he helped out the bleeding stranger that collapsed in his front door, but hey, he's not complaining.


**So this is what happens when I go to a sleepover and I'm the only one who wakes up at eight. I get inspiration as I sit alone in a dark room while everybody else sleeps till 11:30. I guess you have my friends to thank for this. I wanted to write more one-shots for the week but school is majorly kicking my but, so that's not gonna happen now. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and kudos to you if you figure out Alex's identity before it's revealed!**

* * *

It was raining cats and dogs outside. Well, not literal cats and dogs; that would have been all kinds of weird yet horrifying and amusing. So no, it wasn't raining live animals, but it had been raining for hours on end. Magnus could hear the thick rain drops hit the roof of his small house – more of a hut, really – and he knew he would have a hell of a time tomorrow scavenging whatever remained of his herbs, fixing his roof and cleaning away the debris from the path leading to the main road.

He sighed at the last part. Living at the outskirts of the city had its advantages – like more space to plant his medicinal herbs, no human contact and miles upon miles of woodland to his disposal – but getting to and fro from the capitol was one of the major cons, especially on days with bad weather like today. Well, he had nowhere to go anyway, so he might as well enjoy reading a book.

Magnus poked at the fire, sending sparks dancing around the burning logs, and sat back at his armchair. He knew he could be leaving in a big, fancy estate at the richer part of the capitol, or even at the palace. He was friends with (practically adopted by) the Royal Counselor and the Royal Magician, as well as one of the most promising healers in the entire kingdom. No, finding a rich-ass home wouldn't have been an issue, but Magnus had developed a distaste for the wasteful lives the nobles lead during his time in the streets.

Besides, his little cabin by the woods reminded him of the house he lived in with his mother when she was still alive. They didn't need a lot of stuff back then to be happy and he didn't need them now either.

A loud crack of thunder made Magnus jump in his seat and drop his book. The wind roared outside his window, the branches of the nearby trees bending to the wind's power and scrapping against his home. With this kind of storm, he wouldn't be surprised if one of them was uprooted.

He went back to his book, the screeching wind and pouring rain soon becoming background noise. Hearth and Blitzen would be at home at this hour and, if he remembered correctly, Halfborn, Mallory and T.J must all have guarding sifts right now at the palace. He couldn't recall what lesson Sam must be having right now, but with the amount of lessons and tutors she had it was a wonder she was able to keep up with all of them. Some were o bizarre he didn't understand why she had to study them, but then again Magnus didn't know much about being the heir to a kingdom.

Lighting flashed outside the window, followed by earsplitting thunder. Magnus sighed. _At this rate it will be raining all night,_ he thought as he put down his book. Maybe he should go check if the enchantment charms on his roof are still working well – it wouldn't do to have the ceiling collapse on him while he's sleeping.

Just as he was about to head up the stairs a knocking sound made him stop in his place. He paused, one leg up the first step, and listened carefully. _Knock knock knock._ There it was again, the sound of someone banging on his door frantically. Magnus sprinted to door and threw it open without a second thought, his healer training kicking in.

There, on his front porch, drenched, panting and barely standing was a person about Magnus's height that was bleeding on his petunias. A dark cloak was stuck to the stranger's body by the water, the hood obscuring their face. The firelight that spilled out of the door made the blood oozing from the stranger's side glisten between their fingers as they clutched at the wound.

"…H-help…" fell from the stranger's mouth, the words barely above a whisper. They swayed, their legs trembling, and Magnus caught them just before they crumbled down. He held onto them, one arm under their armpits, and guided them inside the house, kicking the door shut behind them.

The stranger, whoever they were, were soaked to the bone and startlingly cold against Magnus. He put them down lightly by the fire and runs to get his healing things from his kitchen. The stranger's chest is heaving by the time he gets back.

"…was stabbed," the stranger managed to get out between panting breaths.

"I can see that," Magnus said, undoing the cloak's clasp and throwing it aside. "I'm a healer, I can help with that."

He moved swiftly, unbuttoning the stranger's tunic and taking it off, careful not to make their wound hurt too much. He did the same thing for their boots, pants and underwear, deciding that making sure the person bleeding on his rug didn't die of hypothermia was more important than decency. Still, he put a towel over their lower parts because in his experience most people didn't like a complete stranger seeing them in their birthday suit, even if that stranger was a healer.

"Huh, I stumbled upon the house of a healer… lucky me," the stranger panted, smiling weakly. The smile turned into a pained grimace when Magnus pressed a towel seeped in antiseptic to the wound.

"Less talking, more trying to stay alive," he said.

"Bossy," the stranger breathed out before shutting up and letting Magnus do his job.

Magnus moved through the motions with ease, his body buzzing with the familiar adrenaline he got when healing somebody. He cleaned the wound as best as he could, not even wincing whenever the person below him hissed in pain. Healing wounds after wounds did a pretty good job at teaching you how to know when a patient couldn't take more pain and this stranger handled it very well, all things considered.

"You're lucky," Magnus said as he applied a salve on the wound, never taking his eyes off it even as he talked. "If whatever stabbed you had got you a bit to the left you would have died by now."

The stranger let out a strangled laugh but said nothing else. Magnus put the salve jar away and placed his palms over the wound. He closed his eyes, focusing all his senses on the body below him. The strangers thrumming heartbeat filled his ears as Magnus tuned into their body, every drop of blood and every bone. He willed the flesh around the wound to mend, meat and skin coming back together under his now doubt glowing hands. Energy surged through Magnus's body like a river, thrashing around until it made it to his hands and into the person's body. Magnus had a talent when it came to healing magic and the salves and herbs made the damage he would have to repair more manageable.

Finally, the wound closed below his palms. Magnus let out a heavy sigh and wiped the sweat from his brow. He had been dealing mostly with illnesses and minor wounds lately and he had forgotten the kind of strain healing a fatal wound could have on him.

Next to him, the person's breathing was steadier and color was returning to their cheeks. Magnus hadn't looked at the person's face much while he was healing them – her, something in him said. She was paler from the whole ordeal but Magnus knew her skin would go back to its darker color in a while. Her lashes were long against her cheeks, her lips slightly blue from the cold and a bit crocked in a way that made Magnus suspect she wore a perpetual smirk. Her drying her was green, strangely enough, but Magnus had seen weirder things. She was quiet pretty, Magnus had to admit, and if he had seen her near naked like this in any other setting he would have been a flushing, blustering mess.

 _Well, I can't leave her naked._ Magnus got up with a huff and put all his things back in their place. He hung the cloak, pants and underwear by the fire to dry along with the boots but threw the tunic aside. It was far too gone to be salvageable. He came back from his room with large hand-me-down tunic Halfborn had given him and made the girl wear it, careful not to wake her up. Healing such a serious wound took just as much out of the patient as it did the healer. She would probably be asleep until the morning.

Doing the best he could, Magnus hoisted the girl into his arms and took her up the stairs to his bedroom. Halfborn's tunic reached about the middle of her thigh – lower than it did on Magnus, so she must be a bit shorter than him – and Magnus was careful not to touch or look anywhere she wouldn't want while putting her down on his bed to rest. Yes, he had seen her completely naked just a few moments ago, but that had been strictly as a healer and Magnus made it a point to respect the privacy of anyone he was treating.

Once he made she was comfortable in bed and with enough blankets not to get cold, Magnus took an extra pillow and blanket and went downstairs to sleep on his armchair.

* * *

The next day, Magnus was making breakfast when the girl came down the stairs. Her hair was flying everywhere at odd angles and the tunic had slipped down one of her shoulders. The sight was strangely adorable, even if her eyebrows were scrunched together in confusion as she probably tried to piece together the events of last night.

"Good morning!" Magnus said, careful not to be too loud. "Your clothes and your things are over there," he pointed to his armchair where everything was folded, "but your shirt is pretty much destroyed, so I can give you one if you don't have a spare. Also, I made breakfast."

The stranger moved around the room behind him as Magnus served breakfast – boiled eggs, a piece of ham and cheese and a glass of goat milk for each of them. "Are you decent?" he asked, his back still to the girl.

"What? Uh, yeah."

Magnus turned around and saw that his guest had put on her pants and boots and swapped Halfborn's tunic for a short-sleeved green one that must have been in her bag. This was the first time Magnus had been able to see her eyes and he noticed that they were different colors. One was the rich golden color of Sam's diadem and the other deep brown like the floor in the throne room at the palace. Her eyes were captivating to say the least and he felt his cheeks heat as her gaze stayed on him.

He put down the plates and glasses on the table and gestured for her to come over and eat. They ate in silence, the girl all but inhaling the food, and it wasn't until she had cleaned the plate of its contents and drained the glass that she spoke.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Magnus asked back.

"Why would you let some stranger who's name you don't even know sleep in your bed and make them breakfast?" She seemed genuinely confused, like she couldn't wrap her mind around the idea and Magnus had to wonder whether someone had ever treated her well without asking for something in return.

"What's your name?" He asked.

The question only made her brows furrow further, but she answered anyway. "Alex."

"Well Alex," he said, testing the name on his tongue, "I did it because said stranger almost died on my petunias last night and anyone with common sense wouldn't let a girl who had been stabbed I guess just hours prior sleep on the floor. The breakfast is simply good hospitality and you probably need the energy. If you were outside in a storm like the one last night you probably have somewhere important to go."

Alex was silent. Magnus could feel her eyes on him as he finished his breakfast.

"How did you know?" she finally asked.

"Know what?"

"That I'm a girl. I mean, you saw me…" she trails off and waves her hand around the general location of her lower body. "You saw me naked. How did you know?"

Magnus drank the last of his milk and put his glass down. "When you heal someone, you sort of… connect with their body, in a sense. You can feel their body alongside yours like it belongs to you. Sometimes random things pass through the connection, like what you had for lunch or something that happened recently. Pronouns pass through as well."

Alex seemed surprised by the information – it wasn't a known fact, after all – but her face paled. "Did you see any of my memories?" she asked. Her voice made Magnus think that she was willing to beat him up to make him forget whatever he learned about her. Which wasn't much other than her pronouns.

"Not much, just riding a horse in a storm," he said as he gathered the plates and put them away. "It was the most recent one so it got through, but I try to keep away from people's memories when I heal them. It makes them uncomfortable."

The tension in Alex's shoulders relaxed visibly. "Thank you."

Magnus smiled at her. "No problem."

Magnus started washing the dishes and after a moment's thought Alex joined him, washing her own plate alongside him.

"So," she started, "where are we?"

Magnus put the washed plate to the side to dry. "A little ways out of the royal capitol."

Alex gasped and when Magnus looked at her he saw her smiling widely, her eyes glimmering with her happiness. Magnus just barely concealed a gasp of his own. _Of course_ the person who stumbles upon his house is unfairly pretty and has a dazzling smile. Magnus's heart is beating hard against his chest and he mentally berates himself.

 _Shut up heart, you hardly know her._

 _But her_ _ **smile**_ _,_ his heart responds in a dreamy voice. (Should it worry him that his heart has a voice in his head?)

 _But nothing,_ Magnus snaps. _You're not allowed to get crush on someone you just met._

 _But her eyes are so pretty_ , his heart keeps gushing. _And her hair is so wavy and it looks so soft and you_ saw _how toned her arms look in that tunic, don't lie to me, I know you were looking._

 _I am_ not _having this discussion right now._

"How can I repay you?" Alex asked, snapping Magnus out of the fight he had been having with his heart.

"You don't have to repay me," Magnus said. "I was just doing what I'm supposed to as a healer."

Alex crossed her arms and glared at him. "Yeah, and you saved my life, let me sleep in your bed and made me food. I want to return the favor."

Magnus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Alex was still glaring at him, like if she did it long enough Magnus wouldn't be able to say no to anything she said. (Which might have been true because she looked scary when she glared at him.)

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"

She beamed at him, a wide smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle. "Nope!"

Magnus might have sighed in exasperation but he would have been lying if he said he didn't feel a smile creeping on his lips. "Alright." Alex cheered and pumped her fist in the air. "But," he continued, "I don't want any money."

Alex shrugged, still smiling deviously at him. "Works for me. I don't have much to begin with."

Despite trying not to, a smile made it to Magnus's lips anyway. He led Alex outside and explained to her what she had to do. She made a few mistakes at first, but she was quick on the update and soon they were working side by side in companionable silence.

* * *

"Say," Magnus started when they were eating lunch the next day. They had cleaned out Magnus's herbal garden (something that took them most of the morning since his garden was _huge_ ) and fixed the roof as well, but by then it was night and Magnus offered to let Alex sleep in his guest room. "How did you get stabbed yesterday?"

Alex froze, just for a second, her fork halfway to her mouth. Her expression darkened and when she answered she wasn't looking at Magnus. "I run away from a bad place and had the misfortune to run into bandits to the way here."

"Bandits?" Magnus echoed, his voice sounding scared. The mere concept of being ambushed and robbed seemed horrible to him, especially because, unlike any of his friends, he was horrible at fighting. It's why he's a healer and not a member of the royal guard.

Speaking of the guard, Alex must have had some pretty terrible luck to run into bandits in the way to the capitol. The royal guards patrolled the forest and all the ways through it regularly. Anyone who tried to rob a traveler so close to the capitol must either be crazy cocky or completely stupid.

"Yeah." Alex was playing with her food, rolling her vegetables this way and that with her fork.  
"I managed to knock out two of them but the third one managed to hit me just as I was getting away."

"How come you were coming to the capitol? Someone you know here or are you looking for a new start?" Alex's eyes were still stuck on the table and she didn't look up even when he asked her a question.

Alex shrugged. "A bit of both. I know I have a relative here, a half-sister, but… I can't go find her right away. I was meaning to find a room somewhere and lay low for a while until then. Do you know any cheep inns in town?"

"You could stay here," Magnus found himself saying before he had much time to think about it.

"What?" Alex finally looked at him, eyes wide, mouth hanging open and a gravy stain my her lips.

"Yeah, I mean…" Magnus trailed off, trying to find some good reasons for having Alex stay here. "I got some extra space, so it won't be a problem. You'll save money too."

"Not that I don't appreciate the offer," Alex said, wiping the gravy from her lips, "but you hardly know me. Why are you offering to let me stay at your house?"

Magnus shrugged. Why was he offering? "I don't know, but…" He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks heating with embarrassment. "You need someplace to stay, and I could use some help around here. You, uh, you're not bad company either." She really was quite enjoyable to be around. They shared the same love for the outdoors and the same sarcastic attitude. Despite all the grueling chores yesterday, time had gone by pleasantly and for once Magnus didn't feel like collapsing face down on the floor after doing the post-storm chores.

Alex's lips were pursued together in thought as she considered what he said and Magnus quickly added, "Plus, if you were a murderer you could have already killed me by now. I wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight anyway."

Alex burst out laughing, her eyes squinted and the tension gone from her shoulders. She snorted accidently and Magnus's heart did a little acrobatic trick inside his chest.

 _Damn you heart, not now!_

"Alright," Alex said. "Guess we're housemates now."

* * *

Living with Alex wasn't bad. In fact, it was quite fun. She – sometimes he, as Magnus learned – was staying at his guestroom, which was normally empty. She'd help Magnus out in the garden, chop wood when they started running out and take turns cooking. Well, that last one only happened once because Alex knew absolutely nothing about cooking. Seriously, nothing, not even the basics. You'd think she never had to cook for herself with how clueless she was when it came to anything that had to do with preparing a meal, but she helped out by chopping vegetables.

Alex had made herself at home in his guest room and made it her mission to make new pots for Magnus as a thank you for letting her stay. And also because she wanted an excuse to make pots. Magnus's couldn't complain, her pots were very good quality amd he needed new pots for his herbs anyway. The small heart attack he had every time he saw Alex walking around and touching things with clay caked hands were worth it.

And _ohh,_ was Magnus's heart working overtime lately. He hoped his _tiny_ attraction to his new housemate would go away after a while, just like it went away after a day or two whenever he found himself staring at some random attractive member of the guard. But _nope,_ his small attraction evolved in a full-blown crush the more time he spent near the green haired girl. He blushed so much around Alex it made him feel like a sixteen year old all over again. He was a twenty year old mature healer, he _should not_ be tripping over his own feet when carrying herbs from the garden because Alex was training in sword fighting shirtless. Yes, as much as he hated to admit it, that happened. Yes, he fell on his face and yes, Alex came over to help him. No, he was definitely not a blushing, spluttering mess when that happened and no, he wasn't ogling at her toned chest either. Nope, that surely didn't happen, no sir.

… Okay, it _did_ , but you can't blame him! She was like, this close and she looked incredible! He's just a human, he's weak.

So yeah, he currently has a palace-sized crush on his beautiful, funny, sarcastic housemate. Yay.

Well, it's not that bad. Having someone around the house is nice, especially since none of his friends have come by recently. Normally they dropped by every so often to say hi. Or because they decided to hang out and get shit-faced in his living room. He should go see them next time he goes into town.

Currently he's making another batch of cut salve in the kitchen. He has enough for himself already, but he makes money by selling salves and potions in the city. They catch a good price considering his reputation as a healer.

"What are you making?" Alex asked in a singsong voice as he looked into the cauldron over Magnus's shoulder.

"Healing salve for cuts. I should go into town tomorrow to sell them." He poured another couple of spoons into a glass vial and set it on the table with the others. He looked back at Alex, who was breathless, sweaty and flushed, but thankfully still wearing a shirt. "You were out training again?"

"Yep." Alex was giving him his signature smirk again and _dear God, why are you doing this to me? Is it because I don't believe in you?_ "I thought I'd take a break and see what you're doing."

Magnus hummed, putting away a couple more vials. "You know, you're really good at fighting," he said. "Probably good enough to be a royal guard if you want."

Alex chuckled a bit, like the idea was funny to him for some reason Magnus didn't know. "How come you're not a royal guard? You said all your friends are."

"I'm no good at fighting," Magnus said simply as he stirred the contents of cauldron. "I'm better suited for a healing and I didn't want to be a healer strictly for the guard. There's a lot of people around town who need it more and don't have the ability to afford one."

Alex cooed and pinched his cheek. Magnus frowned (read: pouted) at him. "Aren't you a little saint, Maggie."

"Don't call me that."

"So you can't fight?" Alex asked, moving the subject away from his ridiculous nickname for Magnus and the fact he still used even though Magnus had said he didn't like it. "At all?"

"Nope," Nope, Magnus said, popping the 'p' and never taking his eyes away from the thick green liquid. "Anything more than holding up a sword is a challenge for me. It'd be nice if the sword could do all the fighting on its own."

"Let me show you!" Alex spoke so suddenly Magnus almost dropped the uncorked vial he was holding. He flayed, trying to catch it before it hit the ground and spilt and thankfully managed it. He sighed in relief and put the vial down, turning to face Alex, who was looking at him with wide glimmering eyes.

"Why?"

"Because it might come in handy - and I'm bored - and it's going to be fun!" He said, all but bouncing in place from excitement. "Come on, please!" Magnus regarded Alex carefully, not looking like he liked the idea much and Alex spoke up before he could refuse the offer."I know you've already red all the books you have, you don't have something else to do! Please?"

Magnus sighed in exasperation, more to himself than the boy in front of him. It was hard enough for him to say no to Alex as it was, did he have to look at him with those hopeful, mesmerizing eyes? "Alright. Let me put these away and we can start."

Alex cheered and run outside to set things up. When Magnus joined him a few moments later, he was standing by Jack's stable with the wooden sword he had made from scraps of wood. The makeshift dummy Alex used for practice was hanging by the roof's edge, though Magnus doubted they'd get far enough to train with the dummy.

Alex held out the sword to him. "Okay, show me your stance."

Magnus took the sword awkwardly, his mind screaming at him to abort the mission because he knew _nothing_ about sword-fighting and he was going to look like a complete fool in front of Alex. He stood with his legs apart and held the sword out with one arm, trying to imitate the form of one of his friends when they were sparing at the palace grounds. He cursed himself for never paying more attention to them.

Alex's expression soured. He obviously got it wrong. "No, no, not like that. Your legs need to be farther apart, then can't be next to each other in a line like that, and you need to hold the sword with both hands."

Magnus eyebrows were scrunched in confusion, but he tried to correct his stance the way Alex told him. He moved around awkwardly, feeling his ears heat up, until finally he guessed he did it right.

Alex sighed. Apparently he hadn't gotten it right.

Much to Magnus's horror, Alex got closer, close enough for him to see how his sweaty tunic hugged his chest and how the sweat on his skin made his biceps almost shine under the autumn sun and – _nope, nope, stop right now, this is not helping brain._

"Your legs need to be as far apart as the width of your shoulders," Alex explained, showing Magnus was he meant by taking the same stance. Magnus looked at what the other boy was doing and carefully spread his legs wider. Alex regarded him for a second and then hooked his foot next to Magnus's ankle to move his leg just a little bit.

"Good. Now, one of your feet needs to be slightly in front of the other so you can balance better." Magnus did as he was told and Alex nodded approvingly. The green haired boy smiled at him and maybe this humiliation was worth it. _Boy, I'm in deep._

"Okay, now move your hands a bit." Magnus did. "No, not like that." Magnus moved his hands again. "No, more like…" Alex sighed. "Okay, let me help."

Before Magnus knew what was happening, Alex had stepped behind. The other boy wrapped his arms around Magnus and covered the blonde's hands with his own palms. Magnus suddenly felt like he was standing inside an oven.

"You want to hold your sword like this and," and honestly Magnus couldn't pay attention to what Alex was saying because the other boy was _this_ close and Magnus could feel his warm breath against his ear and every inch of skin he touched felt like it blazing and Magnus's entire body felt like it was melting and goodness, he was going to die. _Why must you make me suffer like this?_

"Magnus?" Alex asked, snapping Magnus out of his thoughts about how nice it felt when Alex was hugging him like this. "Are you alright?"

"Y-y-yeah!" Magnus said, at least an octave higher than normal. "W-why wouldn't I be fine? I, I'm totally fine!"

Alex's arms tightened around Magnus, Alex chest now pressed even flusher against Magnus's back. Alex's lips were right next to his and when he spoke his voice was quite, a whisper meant only for Magnus to hear. "Well, I'm not arguing with that."

It took Magnus a second to realize what Alex meant, mostly because the close proximity had his body struggling to perform the basic functions, but when he did his face turned red faster than it was probably humanly possible. _Did he just flirt with me?_

And how did Magnus react to that? Did he flirt back? Did he saw thank you awkwardly? Nope. He run away.

"I-I-I need to go to the bathroom!" Magnus shuffled out of Alex's grip, the other boy too stunned to react. He run away from the stable, in through the front door and locked himself in the bathroom. It was only after the door was locked and Magnus was sitting with his back pressed against it that he let himself think about it.

Alex had just flirted with him. Straight up flirted, and not subtly either. Magnus felt the heat travel up his neck as his face went completely and felt warm under his palms. _Alex flirted with me._ The thought made his stomach feel all wear and mushy, like he was getting motion sickness. He didn't get crushes all that often and when he did he wasn't used to them being recuperated.

 _Alex flirted with me and might like me back and I just run away like an idiot,_ Magnus realized as the familiar feeling of 'I fucked up' settled in his stomach. He sighed deeply, covering his face with his hands even though no one could see him inside the bathroom. _Why did I do that? How am I supposed to face him now? You did a great job again, Magnus._

In the end, Magnus spent half an hour inside the bathroom, pacing up and down in circles and trying to figure out what he would tell Alex when he came out. It wasn't so easy when he kept remembering how warm Alex's arms felt around him or how soft his voice sounded in his ear and he would blush and all but pull his hair out as he tried to keep his mind off of those _goddamn beautiful eyes._

"Okay, okay, I can do this," he murmured to himself for like the hundredth time. "I'll just go out and-"

There was a knock on the door. "Magnus?"

 _Shit._ "Y-yeah?"

"Can you come out? I want to talk to you."

Magnus gulped, suddenly afraid of conformation even though it was the very thing he was preparing for in the bathroom. He opened the door with shaky hands and stepped outside. Alex was waiting there, a good arm's reach away from him. The ever-present smirk was Missing from his face and for once he held himself not like a proud royal but like an unsure teenager.

"Alex-"

"I'm sorry," Alex cut him off. "I didn't mean to make you freak out like that and I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable and –"

"You didn't freak me out!" Magnus blurted out. "I mean, you did, b-but it's okay, and you didn't make me uncomfortable, it was just really sudden and I was surprised and I didn't know how to react and I'm not good with this kind of thing and-"

"Magnus," Alex cut him off, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, "you're rambling."

Magnus felt his cheeks heat more, but he kept talking. "Sorry, I got nervous. What I meant to say is that I'm not mad at you. I just didn't expect you to say something like that and I panicked."

Alex giggled and Magnus felt his heart melt. "So, I shouldn't do it again?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind it if you did it," Magnus said, smiling shyly. A large smile spread across Alex's face and Magnus quickly added with a smirk, "But if you hug me again and start whispering in my ear like that with no warning I'm not responsible if I hit you in the head with the sword."

Alex laughed at that and Magnus had a feeling he would do it anyway. "Should we go back to training then?" Alex asked as he bowed, like he was a noble asking a fair lady to dance with him (Magnus had no doubt he could get most rich girls in the city to dance with him. He would have said yes in an instant.)

In the end, Alex still whispered in his ear randomly just to watch Magnus splutter and flush and Magnus, true to his words, hit him in the head with the sword every time. (Did he do it lightlybecause he like Alex flirting with him like that? Maybe, but you have no evidence.)

* * *

It was two day after Alex flirting with him became an everyday thing that Magnus went into the city to sell his salves, syrups and potions. He loaded all his fare on Jack, the large horse neighing in excitement at the prospect of going outside, and made his way to the city. He had Alex if she wanted to come along with him but she said she'd rather stay at home and train. Magnus couldn't do anything to change her mind if she didn't want to, but he was a little disappointed too. He might have thought that the two of them going to the city together would be like a date.

Things had certainly changed between them in those two days since the training incident, but they still hadn't said anything about what they were supposed to be. Sure, they flirted around a lot and stood a bit closer than they necessarily had to when they were the only two people in the house, but none of them said anything about being something more than friends who met when one of them almost died and somehow ended up sharing a house. Magnus wanted to say something - tell Alex he wanted to be together, ask him on a date outright – but he kept saying something else and putting it off.

 _Maybe I should make the move when I get back,_ Magnus thought as he and Jack rode closer to the city. _I could bring back some sweet and ask after we finish eating it._ The idea didn't seem too bad and it sent a swarm of butterflies flying around his stomach. Magnus griped on the reins harder and nodded to himself. _Yeah, that's it, I'll do it!_ (And no, the part with the sweet wasn't exactly necessary, but Magnus had been graving something sweet, so might s well kill two birds with one stone.)

When he finally made it into the city, he got off of Jack and tied the large dark horse on one of the stables for travelers passing through the capitol. He swung the bag of medicine over his shoulder and made his way through the familiar streets towards the shops he sold to.

The streets were lively, like they always were, and Magnus couldn't help but remember what it had been like right after his mother's death when he had lived at these same streets. He had come quite a long ways since then, but he still felt his heart clench at the thought that the same didn't go for some people wandering through the street.

He was walking out of the last shop when he noticed a woman sitting close to the display window, her clothes threadbare and a cup in front of her feet. She wasn't looking at the cup, probably too used to the fact most people didn't stop by to drop anything in her cup. Magnus dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out a third of the money he made today – almost what you'd get in a basic job after two weeks – and dropped it in the woman's cup, walking away before she could look at him or say something. He didn't need all of it so she could have it.

It was as he was walking to the bakery that he noticed it. Royal guards were always patrolling the streets, but they're seemed to be too many out today. What was going on?

As Magnus was looking at the display of sweets at the bakery, trying to guess which one Alex would like better, he caught some stray sentences from two women's conversation.

"There are an awful lot of guards around the city lately," the first one said. "Why did they suddenly upped the guards these past couple weeks?"

Magnus knew eavesdropping wasn't nice, but he had been wondering the same thing just moments before and he found himself listening anyway.

"Don't tell me you haven't heard," the second woman said incredulously. The first woman must have shook her head because the second said, "How haven't you? Basically the entire city is talking about it! They're searching for the lost Prince! They say he might be in town!"

The first woman gasped and Magnus just barely kept his own sound of surprise in. The lost Prince was in the capitol?

A little more than two decades ago, the old king, Odin, had been sick and dying. He didn't have any children except for Lord Thor, who wasn't fit to be king and didn't want to be either. The king's brother, Loki, had two children, a daughter and a son, and had been after the throne for years. Now the throne would finally be his once Odin died and he didn't even have to lift a finger. However, on his deathbed King Odin used his last remaining magic to cast a spell that would burn Loki alive if he became king and banished him from the country. Enraged, Loki tried to deprive the kingdom from any heirs, but he was stopped by the guards and only managed to escape with his son, leaving the daughter, Sam, to be the future Queen. The people of the kingdom had been hoping and praying for years that one day the Prince would return home to be by his sister's side as she ruled.

"What?" the first woman asked. "How? I thought- I thought _he_ had taken him away!"

"What I heard is that the Prince managed to escape and made it to the capitol and that Princess Samirah found out because she had sent her guard to capture _you know who_."

Magnus heard the first woman giggle in delight. "Oh, I can't believe our Prince will be back! He was just a baby when he was taken, I'd love to see how he's grown up!" there was a pause as the woman seemed to realize something. "But wait, how will they recognize the Prince since they don't know what he looks like?"

The second woman sighed exasperatedly. "Don't you remember? The Prince was born with-"

"Differently colored eyes!" the first one finished as she remembered that detail of the story. Magnus's hands were gripping the strap of his bag as his mind kept whirling.

"Yes," the second one said, "one like gold and one like dark wood!"

Magnus paled as everything started making sense in his head. He told the baker what he wanted and paid hurriedly, getting out of the shop and walking to Jack in long, fast strides. The Prince had been in the city for a couple of weeks and he had two-colored eyes, one light and one dark. _It can't be…_

He didn't pay much attention to the ride home and before he knew it he was back at his house. Alex wasn't outside and Magnus unloaded Jock before heading inside. Alex was there, at the kitchen table, painting the details on a pot she had been working on. Magnus wanted to appreciate how beautiful the pot was or how concentrated she looked while working on it, but all he could think about were the two women's conversation. _Alex did she run away from a bad place…_

"Magnus! You're back!" Alex said once she noticed he had walked in. "How was the city?"

"Good," Magnus said, voice dull and monotone. He couldn't stop thinking of how much sense it would make if Alex was the Missing Prince – Princess. His eyes, his lack of knowledge about everyday things, his encounter with bandits in an area that should have had none.

His flat voice didn't go unnoticed by Alex and she looked at him concerned. "Did something happen while you were out?"

"No," Magnus said out of reflex. "Well… kind off."

"What was it?" Alex had put down her brush and paints as she looked at Magnus.

"Well, the guards are searching for somebody in the city with different colored eyes," he said slowly, "one light amber and one dark brown." The young healer watched Alex's face carefully, noticed the way her eyes widened just a fraction in realization. "They're searching for the Missing Prince. Or Missing Princess."

Alex wasn't looking at him. Her shoulder tense, held closer to her body like it would protect her from something, and her fingers were fiddling with the ends of her brush.

"I… wonder who it might be," she said and it sounded unconvincing even to her own ears.

"Is it you, Alex?" Magnus asked, even though he knew the answer.

Alex sighed and nodded. "Yes."

There was a pause as Magnus took that in. He'd already suspected it, he knew it made sense, yet hearing the words was odd. Thinking that Alex, the funny, sarcastic, brave girl that flirted with him and had almost died on his front porch was royalty was… weird.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he finally asked.

"Remember those bandits that attacked me?" Alex started, still not looking at Magnus. "They were men Loki had hired to come after me and bring me back when I escaped. I knocked them out… permanently, but I was scared if I told you who I was and word got out that he'd sent more after me."

"But why stay here?" Magnus pressed on. "Wouldn't it be safer in the palace?"

"Yes, but I liked it here." Alex finally looked at him, looked him in the eye, and Magnus could tell she was being completely honest about everything she was saying. "I wasn't the daughter of Loki some of his servants had to raise and I wasn't a prince. I was just me, and… I liked that. I didn't want to lose it."

Magnus didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't know what to do about Alex being a princess, or the fact she didn't want to lose the time she spent here with him. He wanted to know if his assumption had been right but he didn't know what to do with it now that it was proven correct, so he pushed the bakery bag closer to Alex and said, "I brought a cake."

Alex looked at him incredulous, like he just started glowing. "You're not upset I said nothing?"

Magnus shrugged. "I don't know. You had your reasons and honestly I'm confused trying to think how somebody like you is a princess."

"Hey, I'm an awesome princess," Alex said in her familiar teasing voice, a smile tugging her lips upwards.

"Aren't princesses supposed to be elegant and graceful and caring? That doesn't seem like you." Alex laughed and hit him in the arm with a playful shut up. The air was light again, just like before Alex's royal blood was revealed, and Magnus cut them both a slice of cake.

"I'm glad you took this so well," Alex said when they were halfway through their slices.

"I'm taking it well on the outside," Magnus said before taking another bite of the sweet cake, the fruit syrup coating his tongue. "On the inside I'm running around screaming. It's not every day you find out your crush is a princess."

Maybe it was just the light, but Magnus could swear Alex's cheeks had reddened. "Crush, huh?"

"Yeah, I don't think I was that subtle about it."

Alex chuckled. "You weren't, but it was cute."

Magnus chose to ignore the heating in his cheeks. "Well, your flirting was subtle either."

"I don't do subtle," Alex said with a smirk. "For example, you're very pretty and I've wanted to kiss you since I came here."

Magnus heart might have skipped a beat but he wasn't about to back down. "Really now? And why haven't you? Kind of wasting time there, don't you think?"

"Maybe," Alex admitted, leaning closer to Magnus, her cake forgotten on her plate. "But it'd make it even better when I finally kissed you."

Magnus was sure his heart was beating as loudly as the storm the night they met. "Are you sure about that?"

Alex was leaning in even more, a smile on her lips. "I could try it out."

"Please do."

Alex closed the distance between them, sealing their lips together. They moved together, slowly, experimentally, trying to find a rhythm and work together. Magnus could taste the cake on Alex's lips as they kissed. His hands were lying awkwardly on the table and the back of the chair, Alex hand resting uncertainly on his shoulder. Neither of them knew what they were doing, they were simply making it up as they went. It was simple, awkward and absolutely amazing.

When they pulled away, Magnus was smiling at Alex like a fool and she was doing the same thing. "Was it as good as you thought?" he asked breathlessly.

Alex leaned in and kissed him again. "Better."

* * *

Sam and Alex had met a few days later. After Alex got over her initial surprise at the fact that Magnus was friends with the goddamn future Queen of the country, she had worn a cloak so people wouldn't be able to see her eyes when they went through the city. Getting into the palace itself wasn't a problem; the guards all knew Magnus from his various visits and they let him pass without any trouble. After he asked a guard where Sam was, they started heading to Sam's rooms.

Alex whistled while they were walking though a corridor. "Damn, this place is nice."

Magnus chuckled. "Yeah, it is. Most of the guards are pretty nice too."

"How do you know Samirah anyway?" Alex asked. "Especially good enough to call her by a nickname."

Magnus took a left turn. He'd been here enough time to be able to maneuver the confusing corridors with ease. "I lived in the streets for a bit after my mum died and our house burnt down. I met Hearthstone and Blitzen during that time – they're the Royal Wizard and Counselor respectively, by the way – and they brought me to the palace once after I got hurt in a fight. They found I was a healer around then so I spent some time here and became friends with Sam."

Alex shoulders tensed at the mention of her sister and Magnus took her hand in his. "It's okay. Sam is really nice, I'm sure you too will get along."

Alex's shoulders relaxed somewhat, but Magnus could tell she was still nervous about this.

They finally made it to Sam's rooms. Magnus squeezed Alex's hand once for good luck before knocking on the door. "It's Magnus," he called out.

"Come in," came the reply from the other side of the door.

Magnus walked in, leaving Alex outside the partially open door. Inside, Sam was sitting in her desk, papers covering every single inch of the furniture. "How are you doing, Sam?"

Sam closed her eyes and rubbed at her brow. "Good, but all these economic papers are killing me."

Magnus chuckled. He knew Sam for years and she had always complained about math. "Well, I have something that will cheer you up."

Sam let her head fall on top of all her papers and calculations. "I doubt anything can cheer me up now, but alright."

"Well," Magnus said, dragging on the word, "you know how you've been searching for your missing sibling?"

Sam nodded, brows scrunched in confusion. "Yeah?"

"Well, meet Alex."

On cue, Alex walked in, pulling the cloak's hood back from her face. She faced Sam with her head held high, her beautiful eyes shining from the light that came in through the window. Sam gasped when their eyes met and she stood up from her chair, taking a trembling step closer to Alex.

"Y-you're…?" She stuttered out, one hand held out like she wanted to touch Alex but was afraid she'd disappear if she did.

Alex smiled and held out her hand, trying her best to seem confident despite her nerves. "Hello, sis."

A smile as bright as the sun spread across Sam's face as her eyes welled up and she surged forward, hugging Alex close to her chest. "Welcome home," she whispered. Alex's breath hitched at the embrace and her own eyes filled with tears, even though she'd deny that afterwards.

Magnus watched as the two sisters hugged, holding each other so tightly their joints had gone white. Finally, Sam pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes (to no avail). "How did you find him?"

"Her," Alex corrected.

Sam grimaced. "Damn, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay," Alex said, still standing close to her sister. "It's she and her unless I say otherwise." Sam nodded with an "Okay, sister," and Alex kept going. "Anyway, Magnus and I met when I run away from Loki and the people he had made raise me. The men he had sent after me managed to stab me and I almost died on his petunias but he patched me up."

Sam looked between the two of them with wide eyes. "Seriously?"

Magnus nodded. "Yep. She's been staying with me for a while now, but I hadn't found out she was your sister until recently."

Sam came closer and hugged Magnus tightly. "Thank you for bringing me back my sister."

"If anything, you should thank those men that had been chasing Alex," Magnus said with a laugh. "It they hadn't stabbed Alex I would have never met her either."

"Well, you don' have to worry about Loki coming after you anymore," Sam told Alex. "He's rotting in the dungeons right now. He won't be able to hurt you again."

A weight seemed to leave Alex's shoulders and Magnus was pretty sure her face would be stuck like this forever if she kept smiling any longer.

"I should go tell everybody you're here!" Sam said, her eyes glimmering with excitement. "We have to throw a celebration!"

With that, the princess run out of the room, leaving Alex and Magnus behind. "So," Magnus said, "that didn't go so bad."

Alex sighed contently and took his hand. "Nope. I think I'll like it here. You'll come visit me from time to time, right? I don't think I can go on without teasing you."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "Of course I'll visit. You can always drop by my house too. And anyway, I won't leave right away. Knowing how things work, they'll probably be a ball to celebrate the fact you're back and you'll need somebody to dance with."

Alex's face darkened. "I'll have to dance?"

Magnus couldn't help but laugh at her and he kissed her cheek. "Yeah, but don't worry, I'll show you how."

Alex raised a brow at Magnus and smirked at him. "You can dance, huh?"

He shrugged. He wasn't that good at it, but she didn't need to know that. "A bit. I won't step on your toes at least."

"Well, let's hope you're at least as good at dancing as you are at kissing." Magnus caught the familiar glimmer in Alex eyes she got whenever she flirted with him. He felt his cheeks heat up, but he returned the favor.

"I'm good at kissing, mm?"

"Well," Alex said quietly as she laced their fingers together, "you could stand to practice a bit more."

"Will you help me, then?" he whispered back, moving closer to Alex.

Alex leaned in and kissed him. Outside the window the guards were cheering as news of their princess's return spread.

"It would be my pleasure."

* * *

 **Okay, I honestly don't know what happened in this, it sort of wrote itself, so I apologize for any errors or stuff. I hope you enjoyed this! (It's my first time taking part in a week!)**


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